Sunday, January 28, 2007

Cooking with my new La Chamba pot!

Things I've made in the La ChambaDelicious Soups (a few, so far, and they all came out great, even though most of them were leftovers thrown together)--Yeminite soup (Hawaaj spice mix, some frozen leftover soup from a few weeks ago, potatoes, some lima beans, and dill)-Potato-zucchini soup (I even blended it in the pot, with fantastic results)---1 onion, sauteed in a bit of olive oil. A few garlic cloves. 3 potatoes, 3 zucchinis. Salt, pepper, bay leaves, maybe a pinch of soup powder (peccavimus!) Cook. Puree.-Two-Nut soup- Coconut/Butternut squash.---Take 2 frozen blocks of butternut squash and unwrap into the pot. Open a can of coconut milk and add it to the pot with an equivalent volume of water or maybe slightly more. Add freshly ground black pepper, a few whole peppercorns, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg. Boil. Thats it. It is supremely delectable.

Brown Jasmine Rice- which comes out deliciously separated and perfectly fluffy- I think the La Chamba clay conducts heat very slowly and evenly, making this the most perfect rice I have ever had the pleasure of cooking, and I've ruined a few pots of rice in my day.

And......Mark Bittman's famous no-knead bread!!! More on this exciting development later.